McLaren wants to do away with old-school windshield wipers for good


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McLaren, the British company famous for its supercars and its involvement with Formula One racing, is focusing on fine-tuning the details: windshield wipers, to be exact. The company is reportedly working on a windshield wiper system that would make physical wipers obsolete.

 

The system is expected to use high-frequency sound waves, similar to ultrasounds used by doctors to scan unborn babies, to create tiny vibrations on the screen that would bounce off rain, debris, and insects. Not only does this improve visibility, but it also eliminates the windshield wiper motor in traditional cars and cuts fuel costs. McLaren would be the first to bring this kind of technology to consumer cars, but the system isn't totally new. Military vehicles like fighter jets have similar windshield wiping technology built in, and as McLaren chief designer Frank Stephenson told The Sunday Times, it's an "electronic system that never fails" and leaves nothing attached to the windshield.

 

Unfortunately, the McLaren range of sports cars set to feature the system probably won't debut before 2015. So for now we're stuck battling with our creaky windshield wipers, but in the future, cleaning the snow and ice off your windshield could be a completely automated ? and easy ? hands-off task.

 

http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/17/5220842/mclaren-windshield-wiper-technology

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Guessing this would work great in cold countries with instant icing on the windows on certain days or thick snow.... No, it won't...

 

I don't think you're going to drive a McLaren on icy roads or snow....

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Guessing this would work great in cold countries with instant icing on the windows on certain days or thick snow.... No, it won't...

 

If it works on fighter jets it will work in cold countries ;)

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Guessing this would work great in cold countries with instant icing on the windows on certain days or thick snow.... No, it won't...

Ah here we have HawkMan who always knows everything better than the rest of the world. Such a relief you're still here to show mankind the way. We'd all be lost without you.  :ike:

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I'm no expert in high frequency sound waves (believe it or not) but i'm not sure how this would work for dried on bird sh*t?

 

McLaren will incorporate a Peregrine Falcon in a side compartment to watch over each car and stop birds from pooping on it. That's what I would require in order to justify their asking price.

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McLaren will incorporate a Peregrine Falcon in side compartment to watch over each car and stop birds from pooping on it. That's what I would require in order to justify their asking price.

 

Thank god for that. I'll take two!

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McLaren will incorporate a Peregrine Falcon in a side compartment to watch over each car and stop birds from pooping on it. That's what I would require in order to justify their asking price.

:D

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If it works on fighter jets it will work in cold countries ;)

Fighter jets are parked in small hangars, wiped down before flight if there's snow on the canopy, and then they fly to fast for snow or under frozen rain to stick to the canopy.

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I don't think you're going to drive a McLaren on icy roads or snow....

People actually do drive them all year, not in the heaviest snow, but you never know when it's going to snow in the fall even though the roads are clear.

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Ah here we have HawkMan who always knows everything better than the rest of the world. Such a relief you're still here to show mankind the way. We'd all be lost without you.  :ike:

Was that all you had to "contribute"? Throwing insults and trolling ?

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I don't see how this would work to get salt residue off the windows.. even my windshield wipers can't always get it off.  Gotta spray it with wiper fluid.

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Fighter jets are parked in small hangars, wiped down before flight if there's snow on the canopy, and then they fly to fast for snow or under frozen rain to stick to the canopy.

 

 

Many fighters use jet bleed to remove ice. It isn't that they fly too fast...they are very prone to icing due to the sub zero climate they are often in. 

 

A similar system is used for wing de-icing by the 'hot-wing' method. In icing conditions, water droplets condensing on a wing's leading edge can freeze. This build-up of ice adds weight and changes the shape of the wing, causing a degradation in performance, and possibly a critical loss of control or lift. To prevent this, warm bleed air is pumped through the inside of the wing's leading edge. This heats up the metal and prevents the formation of ice. The air then exits through small holes in the wing edge. Alternatively, bleed air may be used to inflate a rubber boot on the leading edge, breaking the ice loose.[2][3]

Bleed air from the high-pressure compressor of the engine is used to supply reaction control valves as used for part of the flight control system in the Harrier jump jet family of military aircraft

 

 

Also, this covers military and commercial jets:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_protection_system

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It might clear beads of rain, but it won't clear dirt or everything else that isn't clear.

 

The only solution I can think of that would obsolete wipers would be to coat the windshield with something similar to Never Wet (http://www.neverwet.com/).

Like Rain X?

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Many fighters use jet bleed to remove ice. It isn't that they fly too fast...they are very prone to icing due to the sub zero climate they are often in.

Also, this covers military and commercial jets:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_protection_system

I was talking about the canopy though. The canopy doesn't suffer from the same icing issues as the leading edge of the wing. And the speed referred mostly to the snow as well though generally they're ton high for snow as well, most of the time.

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